PREMIER RIDES SELECTED BY THE WANDA GROUP TO PROVIDE
A “WORLD’S FIRST” ATTRACTION TO CHINA MARKET

Baltimore, MD, USA– The Wanda Group has awarded Premier Rides a major contract to design and build one of the most cutting-edge attractions ever to be introduced to the theme park industry. The first-of-its-kind attraction will set a new standard for technical innovation and will reinforce Wanda’s stated goal to be the leader in China’s themed entertainment industry. The project will represent the most significant investment to date by Wanda on a single attraction and will introduce stunning new technologies that are sure to impress Wanda’s millions of fans.

Jim Seay, President of Premier Rides commented on the award stating “Premier Rides is incredibly respectful of Wanda’s commitment to build the best, world-class attractions and world-class theme parks throughout China and beyond. Their dedication to providing high-end thrilling immersive experiences is very impressive and we are honored to be a part of their vision for success. The Wanda team is very focused and works hard to ensure the best possible product. Premier has great synergy with Wanda.”

Premier Rides is known for focusing on large, technically complex projects that incorporate the newest technologies and has provided the ride equipment for award-winning attractions like The Revenge of the Mummy™ at Universal Studios and Full Throttle at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The project with Wanda takes ride technology to the next level and will raise the bar on expectations throughout the industry. Cloaked in a high level of secrecy, details of the project are being kept very quiet.

Seay added “We are honored to be part of Wanda’s team which is absolutely focused on providing the newest and most exciting rides to the entertainment industry. The contract with Wanda is one of the largest ever for Premier Rides and we are very grateful for the trust placed in us. The themed entertainment business is very strong right now and Premier is in a growth phase to meet the industry needs. We are highly focused on the Asian market as its expansion continues to lead the industry and it has become the focus for the best the industry can imagine.”

If my being in the loop is up to date, enthusiasts have never heaped praise on Premier, but they've got some nice rides to their name, and seem to be doing well enough, so this could be really good.

By the way, this is said to be Wanda's biggest investment on a single attraction ever. Do anybody have any ideas of what figures we're talking about here, or what their currently-most-expensive attractions look like? @gavin, @roomraider, do any of you know?

By the way, this is said to be Wanda's biggest investment on a single attraction ever. Do anybody have any ideas of what figures we're talking about here, or what their currently-most-expensive attractions look like? @gavin, @roomraider, do any of you know?

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I'd have to assume it would be one of their big Intamin's. Either the Hyper or the Launched Coaster. Gavin will know more about the non coaster attractions at Nanchang but I cant remember seeing one that would cost anything like the Hyper there.

If i had to take a wild (if slightly educated) guess at what they are talking about here I would have to guess it is the planned launched dueling coasters for Wanda Guangzhou which features a sitdown and inverted side. But this is purely speculation on my part.
Concept art for the planned ride. To me those loops shout Premier.

I was going to say the same thing about the Intamins. I've only done the Nanchang park, and the hyper must easily be the most expensive thing there. The woodie is probably still a way off even given the size and terrain layout.

Updated concept art for the Inverted/Sitdown launched racing coaster. The 2nd stage of concept art for Wanda parks is usually where they've pinned down the ride purchases and the art now looks more like the ride they are actually getting. But bearing that in mind all concept art comes with the caveat... this is concept art

Having said that. Some notes on what this shows.
It uses a similar launch system to Gold Rush, Star Trek, Hunger Games and Soaring Dragon with a forwards, backwards, forwards launch setup. The kicker here being the Sitdown track is physically on top of the inverted track.
It appears to use a similar over/under loop system to Full Throttle just with inverted track running around the sitdown track.
It also look like it will have a near miss on the turn around and possibly on the hill before the brakes as well.

While its not confirmed this is Premier. I think its highly likely at this stage.

(assuming they're going to duel), having two trains on one piece of track at once will put some serious strain on it. It'd have to have some really good support if it's going to be holding the weight of two trains at once, so having it be two separate tracks is probably more economically reasonable in the long run.

as an op that would make me seriously uncomfortable having a double deck station and authorizing a clear for launch when i can't see the other one.... also shenanigans between the two through the course...

as an op that would make me seriously uncomfortable having a double deck station and authorizing a clear for launch when i can't see the other one.... also shenanigans between the two through the course...

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The loading stations can be split however as they won't be on the launch track itself. The trains will slide onto the launch track like how they do on Soarin Dragon and Hunger Games. It means they can set the station stations up however they like and the trains will just sync up on the launch sections.

(assuming they're going to duel), having two trains on one piece of track at once will put some serious strain on it. It'd have to have some really good support if it's going to be holding the weight of two trains at once, so having it be two separate tracks is probably more economically reasonable in the long run.

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It's not the weight of the trains. That could be accounted for by reinforcing the structure. After all, an S&S 4D coaster train weighs somewhere in the vincinity of as much as a sit-down and an inverted train put together, and it needs only one set of rails to carry the weight.

The "killer" is the dynamics. A train will vibrate and its motions strain the track in different ways, usually solved by making the track flexible so it yields to the forces. But two trains influencing the same track structure simultaneously creates a very complex pattern of dynamic motions, and you can't flex against it since the forces pull in different directions at the same time (just try to imagine how the forces of the wheel bearings change based on the number and placement of riders in each car, for instance). The combined two-train track would get some really wonky strains put on it, increasing the risk of fractures in the long run.

So the simplest solution is to make the coaster as two intertwined - but not touching - structures. That way, they can both flex against their own dynamic motions, without being influenced by the other. Expedition Everest does the same thing. The coaster (influenced by the train), the yeti (influenced by the [former] motions of the multi-ton animatronic) and the mountain (influenced by wind) all have their separate load-bearing structures that don't touch each other, so they don't wear each other out.

I'm not completely sure how Full Throttle solves it, but I'm guessing that it never runs two trains through the loop-hill at the same time. That wouldn't be an option for a duelling coaster, though.

I'm not completely sure how Full Throttle solves it, but I'm guessing that it never runs two trains through the loop-hill at the same time. That wouldn't be an option for a duelling coaster, though.

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Correct. The backwards launch follows the huge loop, so the next train can't go into it until the one before has made it over the the top of the loop -- at least I would think, for block safety reasons, it would not be safe to launch the next train until the previous one has made it over the crest of the over-the-loop hill. It's just track stacked, not a lot of dynamic forces at play as it's one at a time.